Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking with the Department of Health and Social Care to reduce the number of people discharged from NHS care into homelessness.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

In January 2024, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department of Health and Social Care published Discharging people at risk of or experiencing homelessness, guidance to help staff plan safe discharges and prevent homelessness after NHS care.

We will look closely at the issue of people being discharged from NHS care into homelessness in our cross-government Homelessness Strategy.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the efficacy of hospitals delivering specialist multi-disciplinary teams for patients experiencing homelessness.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department published guidance in 2024 called Discharging people at risk of or experiencing homelessness to support the care transfer hub, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/discharging-people-at-risk-of-or-experiencing-homelessness/discharging-people-at-risk-of-or-experiencing-homelessness

This guidance recognises the necessity for multi-disciplinary teams. It recommends that dedicated housing options officers are embedded within the care transfer hub and advises hospitals treating over 200 homeless patients a year to offer access to a specialist multi-disciplinary homeless discharge team.

Some areas of the country have introduced High Intensity Use Services to proactively meet the needs of the most frequent attenders of the local accident and emergency, a significant portion of whom are experiencing homelessness. These services include multi-disciplinary teams that are helping to address health inequalities faced by this cohort while alleviating pressure on urgent and emergency care pathway,

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Chi Onwurah (Chair); Emily Darlington; George Freeman; Dr Allison

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Chi Onwurah (Chair); Emily Darlington; George Freeman; Dr Allison

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Chi Onwurah (Chair); Emily Darlington; George Freeman; Dr Allison

Found: I will hand over to Emily Darlington to kick us off.

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Chi Onwurah (Chair); Emily Darlington; Dr Allison Gardner; Kit

Hair and beauty products (chemicals applied to the hair or body for cosmetic purposes) and treatments (cosmetic procedures typically performed by specialists) can cause harm to consumers if they contain unregulated ingredients or if they are improperly administered.  The inquiry will respond to recent research which has led to concerns about the current scientific evidence base and regulation for these products, as well as the required training and qualifications of specialists performing treatments.  The inquiry will also investigate the growing concern that certain products that are commonly used by marginalised groups, such as creams to ‘relax’ afro-type hair and synthetic hair, can contain harmful chemicals.

On 15 July 2025 the Defence Secretary told the House of Commons about a large-scale data breach that had taken place in 2022, when a Ministry of Defence official emailed a spreadsheet to an external contact, unaware that it contained details relating to 18,700 Afghan nationals applying for relocation.